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zorrox
Guest
Would you be prepared to give up your life for your faith?
Would you forgive those who killed you?
Would you forgive those who killed you?
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mommyof4
Guest
I hope so, and I hope so!
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Eileen_T
Guest
Yes. I have considered this. It was a challenge for me which I had to wrestle with, but God gave me 2 Machabees Chapter 7.
It was heart-rending, but eventually I bowed my neck to God and said, “Thy Will be done.”
Two saints who immediately come to mind are St Maria Goretti and St Maximilian Kolbe.
St Max was especially ill-treated because his tormentors could not stand the look of love and forgiveness they saw in his eyes.
St Maria Goretti, before she died, forgave Alessandro Serenelli, the young man who fatally stabbed her.
Fr Tommy Lane gave a sermon (ooops, homily) on this. For those who don’t know the story I will post it.
Homily for the Twenty-First Sunday Year B
by Fr. Tommy Lane
*Maria Goretti was born in 1890 in Italy, the daughter of Luigi and Assunta Goretti. Nine years later in 1899, her father Luigi began to work for a Count farmer south of Rome and made a deal with Mr Serenelli that his family would share the same house with the Serenelli family, also laborers for the same farmer. Maria’s father Luigi died of malaria.
In June 1902 Mr Serenelli’s son, Alessandro, began to cause trouble for Maria. He began to boss her around and to make advances towards her which she shrugged off. Her big mistake was the she did not tell her mother because she did not want to cause trouble.
The following month, on July 5th 1902, he decided that he would be denied no longer. Alessandro, aged twenty, motioned her towards the bedroom but she refused shouting, “No! It is a sin! God does not want it!” He stabbed her fourteen times.
While being taken to hospital in Nettuno on a horse-drawn ambulance she told everything. In the nearby hospital she underwent twenty hours of surgery without anesthesia.
During that time she forgave Alessandro and prayed for him. On the following day, July 6th she died. She was not yet twelve years old. Alessandro was sentenced to thirty years hard labor.
After six years in prison he was near despair and one night in 1910 Maria appeared to him in his cell. She smiled and was surrounded by lilies, symbols of purity. That was a turning point in Alessandro’s life and he regained his peace.
His first deed after release from prison was to visit Maria’s mother and ask pardon. He accompanied her to Christmas Mass in the parish church where he spoke before the congregation, acknowledging his sin and asking forgiveness from God and the community. He took up work in a Capuchin monastery as the gardener.
In 1947 Maria Goretti was beatified. Her mother and murderer were present. In June 1950 Pope Pius XII canonized Maria Goretti declaring her to be a saint and martyr. Her mother was present and a huge crowd of up to 500,000 people. It was the first time in history that a mother was present at the canonization of her child.*
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Eileen_T
Guest
Cont…
In May 1970 Alessandro died. He had left the following letter, dated May 1961.
**I’m nearly 80 years old. I’m about to depart. Looking back at my past, I can see that in my early youth, I chose a bad path which led me to ruin myself. My behavior was influenced by print, mass-media and bad examples which are followed by the majority of young people without even thinking. And I did the same. I was not worried.
There were a lot of generous and devoted people who surrounded me, but I paid no attention to them because a violent force blinded me and pushed me toward a wrong way of life. When I was 20 years old, I committed a crime of passion. Now, that memory represents something horrible for me.
Maria Goretti, now a Saint, was my good Angel, sent to me through Providence to guide and save me. I still have impressed upon my heart her words of rebuke and of pardon. She prayed for me, she interceded for her murderer. Thirty years of prison followed.
If I had been of age, I would have spent all my life in prison. I accepted to be condemned because it was my own fault. Little Maria was really my light, my protectress; with her help, I behaved well during the 27 years of prison and tried to live honestly when I was again accepted among the members of society.
The Brothers of St. Francis, Capuchins from Marche, welcomed me with angelic charity into their monastery as a brother, not as a servant. I’ve been living with their community for 24 years, and now I am serenely waiting to witness the vision of God, to hug my loved ones again, and to be next to my Guardian Angel and her dear mother, Assunta.
I hope this letter that I wrote can teach others the happy lesson of avoiding evil and of always following the right path, like little children. I feel that religion with its precepts is not something we can live without, but rather it is the real comfort, the real strength in life and the only safe way in every circumstance, even the most painful ones of life.”
Signed, Alessandro Serenelli **
I love being a Catholic. We have elder brothers and sisters in Christ who show us the way to do what is right. Role models!
In May 1970 Alessandro died. He had left the following letter, dated May 1961.
**I’m nearly 80 years old. I’m about to depart. Looking back at my past, I can see that in my early youth, I chose a bad path which led me to ruin myself. My behavior was influenced by print, mass-media and bad examples which are followed by the majority of young people without even thinking. And I did the same. I was not worried.
There were a lot of generous and devoted people who surrounded me, but I paid no attention to them because a violent force blinded me and pushed me toward a wrong way of life. When I was 20 years old, I committed a crime of passion. Now, that memory represents something horrible for me.
Maria Goretti, now a Saint, was my good Angel, sent to me through Providence to guide and save me. I still have impressed upon my heart her words of rebuke and of pardon. She prayed for me, she interceded for her murderer. Thirty years of prison followed.
If I had been of age, I would have spent all my life in prison. I accepted to be condemned because it was my own fault. Little Maria was really my light, my protectress; with her help, I behaved well during the 27 years of prison and tried to live honestly when I was again accepted among the members of society.
The Brothers of St. Francis, Capuchins from Marche, welcomed me with angelic charity into their monastery as a brother, not as a servant. I’ve been living with their community for 24 years, and now I am serenely waiting to witness the vision of God, to hug my loved ones again, and to be next to my Guardian Angel and her dear mother, Assunta.
I hope this letter that I wrote can teach others the happy lesson of avoiding evil and of always following the right path, like little children. I feel that religion with its precepts is not something we can live without, but rather it is the real comfort, the real strength in life and the only safe way in every circumstance, even the most painful ones of life.”
Signed, Alessandro Serenelli **
I love being a Catholic. We have elder brothers and sisters in Christ who show us the way to do what is right. Role models!
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thistle
Guest
We would all like to think we would die for our faith but its a question that cannot be answered. Only if the occasion arose could it be answered.
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puzzleannie
Guest
sure it would probably by a lot easier to die for the faith than to defend it every day through constant attention to my words and actions, in the face of criticism, ridicule, and prejudice.
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zorrox
Guest
How true, sometimes living the catholic life can be a white martyrdom that’s why martyrdom is important for all of us.
Martyr means witness, and we’re all called to witness our faith.
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PauloFreire2
Guest
That’s what I’m interested in – that which I call, ‘modern Crusades’. There was a time when the Christian West knew enough to protect itself, and even to take the offensive, periodically, to further sustain itself. Today, however, we lie dead before our totemic obelisk – ***POLITICAL CORRECTNESS. ***
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Gene_G
Guest
I think it can be just as hard to live with what you are talking about as it is to accept martyrdom. Some people put up with this kind of persecution for many years and it can be very draining. Or how about the people who live in places where the threat of martyrdom exists, or of being jailed or suffering other things on account of their faith. I’ll bet martyrdom can seem like a relief to them.
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PauloFreire2
Guest
It’s still out there, just waiting for the opportunity. I applaud the Pope for speaking out against Islamic blood-lust. **LEAVE IT TO ROME TO LEAD HUMANITY WHEN ALL OTHERS SHRINK FROM THE TASK. **
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Kevin42
Guest
I would certainly hope so!
Perhaps one day God will grant me the oppurtunity to die for Him. I cannot imagine any greater a gift than to share in the suffer with Christ to the point of death! What a grace-filled and humbling experiencing!
Of course, while I think this now, who knows what my actions would be were I to be placed in this situation in real life. I pray that God would grant me grace, and Jesus give me strength.
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Carrie_Andrews
Guest
I agree with you!
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